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Ellie Cousland
In Jocelyn Amell/Kierra Tabris worldstates: Ellie Cousland was the daughter of Bryce and Eleanor Cousland. She was sent to Ostagar along with her older brother Fergus, where she was killed fighting the darkspawn. In her own worldstate: Ellie Cousland is the Hero of Ferelden, Warden-Commander, Arlessa of Amaranthine, and Queen of Ferelden. Overview Physical Appearance Ellie is a fair-skinned young woman with very light brown, almost blonde hair she keeps pulled back into a series of ponytails. She has bluish-grey eyes. As a melee fighter, she generally prefers to wear heavy armor. Personality Ellie is a friendly, extroverted young woman with a somewhat sarcastic sense of humor, and she likes to hang around people that she can bounce jokes and sarcastic comments off of. Given enough time, she can generally become friends with anyone. Ellie is also fairly persuasive and manipulative, and she's not above lying and using trickery to get what she wants, claiming that sometimes "the smart solution is better than the honorable one". Despite this, her heart is in the right place and she's horrified by evil or extreme actions. She can be a bit impulsive and rude when it comes to people who has no patience for, which can get her in trouble. Ellie is fiercely loyal to her friends and loved ones, and won't hesitate to do whatever she can to protect them and support them. She also has a rather strong vengeful streak, and will bring doom upon anyone who hurts herself, her friends, or her family. Naturally, she doesn't take betrayal particularly well. Talents and Skills Ellie is a warrior skilled with a sword and shield. She has a fighting style that is largely focused on defense rather than offense, making her a rather difficult target. Being a noblewoman, Ellie is also skilled at statecraft and politics. She is fairly well-read and has high cunning. Ellie has no idea how magic works, and spent most of her time in the Fade completely lost. All she knows for sure is that blood magic and demons are no good to be messing around with. Biography History Younger child and only daughter of Bryce and Eleanor Cousland, Ellie had a fairly healthy, content childhood. Even from the time she was a little girl, she was very outgoing, and could pretty much make friends with anyone. Being a few years younger than Fergus, Ellie took her lessons with some of the squires training at the castle rather than with her older brother. Two of them in particular, Erik and Jon, became her best friends during childhood. She found the swordplay and combat training they received to be a lot more fun than the "softer arts" her mother tried to train her in, and insisted on being taught to fight along her friends - a wish that her father was happy to oblige. When Ellie was thirteen, one of the mabari in the kennels had a new litter of pups. One of the pups in particular got attached to Ellie. She asked her father if she could keep it, and he agreed on the condition that she take care of it herself. While trying to find a name for her new pet, Oren - who was only a toddler at the time - called it "Pig" because it looked like a pig. Ellie found that amusing, and the name stuck. Four years later, Eleanor thought that it was time to think about finding a husband for Ellie, despite her complete lack of interest in getting married. Still, Ellie indulged her mother by meeting a few potential suitors - all of whom she turned down. At some point, Arl Howe suggested a betrothal between Ellie and his younger son Thomas. Their meeting ended in disaster, with Ellie thoroughly trouncing him in a practice fight after he insulted her friend Erik for being a bastard. The pair soon grew to hate each other, and it was very soon decided that any marriage between them would end in disaster. It was at this point that Arl Howe started to dislike Ellie and that Eleanor started to lose hope of her ever getting a suitable match. Both dropped the issue, leaving Ellie to pursue her combat training and martial pursuits - something she was more than happy to do. In-game When Bryce, Fergus, and Howe prepared to march south to Ostagar, Ellie was rather disappointed to find she'd be staying home to babysit the castle rather than going with them to fight. She only begrudgingly agreed to please her father, knowing that she'd be the heir if anything happened to Fergus. Later at dinner that night, she talked to Duncan a little about becoming a Grey Warden. Ellie was intrigued by the idea, but asked him to wait until the fighting at Ostagar was over, just in case something happened to her father and brother. After Fergus left that night with most of Highever's fighting force, Ellie found the castle under attack by Howe's men, who'd taken the opportunity to stage a coup. Ellie and her mother fought their way through the castle to find her father, only to discover that he'd been mortally wounded. Duncan agreed to help Ellie escape on the condition that she join the Grey Wardens, and after tearfully promising her parents that she'd avenge their deaths, she escaped the castle with Duncan and Pig. Ellie spent most of the journey to Ostagar in a deep depression, mourning the loss of her family. Once they arrived, it was only after a chance meeting with a certain snarky, talkative rogue from Lothering that Ellie was convinced to put her grief aside and focus on her task. After getting the Warden treaties from the Wilds, Ellie survived the Joining, becoming a full-fledged Grey Warden. During the battle, she and her fellow Grey Warden, Alistair, climbed the Tower of Ishal, carving their way through a small army of darkspawn in the process, including an ogre that absolutely terrified Ellie. However, in the end they were successful. The battle ended in disaster, however, when Loghain abandoned the king and left the Wardens to die. Ellie and Alistair were overwhelmed by darkspawn at the top of the tower, and only survived thanks to the intervention of Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds. After recovering from her injuries at Flemeth's hut, Ellie and Alistair, joined by Flemeth's daughter Morrigan, set out to gather an army large enough to fight the Blight. Upon reaching Lothering, however, they found out that Loghain had set himself up as regent and declared the Grey Wardens outlaws. They had a run-in with some soldiers at a tavern who tried to arrest Ellie, but they fought them off with the help of an inexplicably competent Chantry sister named Leliana, who Ellie quickly recruited to join their quest. She also recruited the Qunari warrior Sten on her way out of town. Ellie arrived at the first stop on the "Blight Army Tour" the Circle tower, only to find out that it had been overrun by abominations. With the help of Wynne, an elderly Circle mage, Ellie cleared the tower of the abominations, saved First Enchanter Irving's life, and killed Uldred, the possessed mage responsible for the whole thing. This allowed her to recruit the mages to help fight the Blight. After departing the Circle, Ellie traveled to Redcliffe, where she discovered that Arl Eamon had been poisoned by the blood mage Jowan, and that his young son Connor, a mage, had become possessed in an attempt to save his life and was sending undead to attack the village every night. Ellie helped save the village from destruction and snuck into the castle to confront Connor. The confrontation very nearly ended in Bann Teagan's death and everyone agreed that something had to be done. Hesitant to kill a child or use Jowan's blood magic, Ellie traveled back to the Circle in hopes of getting the mages there to help her. With their help, Ellie was able to free Connor from possession. There was still the matter of Arl Eamon though, who showed no signs of getting better. Despite seeing the whole thing as a wild goose chase, Ellie set out to find the Urn of Sacred Ashes in an effort to save his life. Her quest led her to the village of Haven, where she was confronted by Father Kolgrim and his dragon cult. Ellie denounced him as crazy, leading him and his men to attack her before he could even offer her the chance to defile the Urn. After going through the Gauntlet, confronting her own grief over her family in the process, Ellie made it to the Urn and took some of the ashes, which allowed her to save Arl Eamon. He decided to call a Landsmeet to remove Loghain from power and place Alistair, who had been revealed as the bastard son of King Maric, on the throne instead - despite Alistair's reluctance to do so. Ellie still hadn't gotten all the allies she needed though, so she put the Landsmeet off and headed into the Brecilian forest to recruit the Dalish elves. The clan she found had been stricken by a curse that turned them into werewolves, which their Keeper, Zathrian, claimed could only be cured by taking the heart of their leader, Witherfang. Ellie confronted Witherfang, only to find out that it was actually a spirit of the forest, and that she had been bound to the spirit of a wolf by Zathrian himself, who had caused the curse. Ellie forced Zathrian to break the curse, creating peace between the werewolves and elves and recruiting the elves for her army. Finally, Ellie headed to Orzammar, only to find it in the middle of a deadlocked succession crisis. She chose to support Bhelen, because despite his "sleazy politician" persona, she thought that the more progressive candidate would be more willing to help her. She traveled into the Deep Roads alongside a dwarven warrior named Oghren to find Branka, the only surviving Paragon, who would have enough clout to support Bhelen's bid for the throne and end the crisis. Unfortunately, Branka had gone mad in her search for the Anvil of the Void, which to Ellie's horror, worked by enslaving souls and binding them to golems. Ellie refused to let Branka keep such an evil artifact, and ended up being forced to kill her. She was, however, able to gain the support of the Paragon Caridin instead, who forged her a crown to give to her candidate of choice before destroying the anvil and ending his own life. Ellie used the crown to put Bhelen on the throne and gained the support of the dwarven army to help fight the Blight. With all of the allies she could gather mustered, Ellie had Arl Eamon call the Landsmeet. She was soon called upon to rescue Queen Anora, who had been taken prisoner by Arl Howe. Ellie killed Howe, finally avenging her family, and managed to rescue Anora, only to find herself surrounded by Ser Cauthrien and her men, who wanted to arrest Ellie for Howe's murder. Ellie tried to talk her way out of it, but she was double-crossed by Anora and overwhelmed by Cauthrien's forces in an extremely one-sided fight. Ellie was captured and imprisoned in Fort Drakon alongside Alistair, but they were rescued by Morrigan and Leliana and managed to get back to Eamon in one piece. Anora asked Ellie to support her bid for the throne, but Ellie refused to give it to her after her betrayal. While she managed to get a lot of support for the Grey Wardens in the Landsmeet, their argument wasn't enough to get Loghain to step aside, and the whole thing broke out into a bloody brawl after Loghain ordered Ellie and Alistair's execution. After an exhausting fight, the Grand Cleric called for the matter to be settled in a duel, which Ellie allowed to let Alistair to fight. He defeated and killed Loghain, after which Ellie declared that Alistair would be king and she would rule beside him as queen. The Landsmeet agreed, and with the civil war over, Ellie put her focus back on fighting the Blight. Denerim fell under attack, and the night before the army went to battle, Riordan, a senior Grey Warden, told Ellie and Alistair that a Grey Warden would have to die in order to kill the archdemon. However, Ellie was offered an alternative by Morrigan in the form of a magic ritual, which would allow the archdemon to be killed without the loss of a Warden's life. Ellie, who had fallen in love with Alistair and didn't want to lose yet another person she cared about, agreed to let Morrigan perform her ritual with Alistair. The army marched on Denerim, and Ellie fought her way through the city with Alistair, Morrigan, and Leliana at her side. They faced the Archdemon on top of Fort Drakon, and Ellie killed it. Realizing that she had survived, Ellie wanted to thank Morrigan for her help - only to realize her friend was gone. With the Blight over, Alistair was crowned king and formally betrothed to Ellie, who was given the title of "Hero of Ferelden" for her role in ending the Blight and saving the world. Post-game Ellie spent the next few months aiding restoration efforts and rebuilding Denerim after the battle. She and Alistair married in a ceremony that was a bit too elaborate for Ellie's taste, but she enjoyed being able to celebrate something after so long. The Grey Wardens at Weisshaupt sent question after question about Ellie's survival, most of which she ignored. Not much later, she was called upon to take up the post of Warden-Commander and took up a post at Vigil's Keep. While there, she recruited some new Grey Wardens and took care of the remaining darkspawn threat. Unfortunately, she was forced to destroy the city of Amaranthine after it was sacked by the darkspawn, something that earned her no end of grief from pretty much everyone. Finding the Architect too dangerous to be allowed to live, she killed him. Ellie spent the next seven years alternating between her duties as queen and her duties as Warden-Commander. She and Alistair ruled well together, and the pair proved to be very popular royals. However, not all was well. In seven years, the pair hadn't even come close to having an heir, and it was making the nobles talk. There was even rumor that some of the advisors wanted Alistair to end their marriage and find a queen who could give him a child. And while Alistair reassured Ellie that it was never going to happen, Ellie was concerned that their fertility issues and short lifespans would cause another succession crisis. She began researching anything she could about the darkspawn taint, the Grey Wardens, and the Calling in hopes of finding something that could help. When she discovered that there could be a cure, she left Ferelden and headed west, determined to find a way to stop the Calling. After several years, Ellie returns with the cure, which both she and Alistair take. Despite being cured of the Taint, they still have trouble having a child, with Ellie suffering two miscarriages. She finally manages to give birth to a living child, their son Bryce, but the birth almost kills her and she thinks it better if she doesn't have any more children. Still, with a living heir, the nobles are more or less happy, and the unpleasant rumors more or less disappear. Relationships Pig Ellie's loyal pet since she was thirteen, Pig was the only survivor of the castle's massacre along with his owner. Ellie knows that she can count on Pig; after all, he's her oldest and most loyal friend. Bryce, Eleanor, and Fergus Ellie always got along well with her father, whom she had a very close relationship with. He supported her interests and allowed her the freedom to do what she wanted, within reason, of course. Ellie, in return, honored her father's wishes even when she didn't like what they were. Ellie was heartbroken by his death and returns to Highever every year on the anniversary of the massacre to honor his memory. Ellie argued with her mother about almost everything, particularly when she got older and pursued interests that Eleanor didn't think were proper for a young lady to study. Still, Ellie loved and respected her mother, admired the stories of her more adventurous youth, and spent enough time meeting suitors and attending boring parties to make her happy. Ellie still blames herself for not being able to save her, and honors her memory yearly. Ellie and Fergus got along well during their youth and did a lot together despite the age difference between them. During the fifth blight, Ellie held out hope that he might be alive, and she was overjoyed to learn that he had survived Ostagar. She regularly communicates and visits with him. Arl Howe Even before he butchered her family, Ellie had never liked Arl Howe and didn't understand what her father saw in him. His rude behavior and barely disguised disdain for Ellie didn't escape her notice, and she constantly found reasons not to be around when he was. After the Cousland massacre, Ellie's dislike of Howe turned into pure hatred, and she vowed to kill him for what he'd done to her family. She eventually succeeded, killing him and getting his lands and titles turned over to the Grey Wardens. Still, she's never quite gotten over her hatred, and even mentioning him is likely to make her angry, even years after his death. The Companions Ellie never quite understood Sten, but she did respect him and appreciated the help he gave her during the Fifth Blight. Before he returned to Par Vollen, Ellie gave him a very large box of cookies to take home, in hopes that he could bring some good sweets to the Qunari. Zevran was recruited somewhat against Ellie's better judgement, but she needed the help at the time and figured that she could just kill him if he tried anything. And while Ellie found his flirting a bit off-putting, she did befriend him and knew that she could count on him, especially after he turned against the Crows to protect her. The pair remain friends even now, and Ellie knows that whenever she hears about a dead Crow, her trusty assassin friend is probably behind it. Ellie and Wynne got along well enough, and Ellie often found herself seeking out the mage for her advice. Wynne was one of the only people that Ellie was completely honest with about just how much her family's death hurt her, and the mage's advice led Ellie to fully commit to her budding romance with Alistair after a lot of hesitation. Ellie was saddened to learn of her death. Ellie didn't get off on the right foot with Oghren after killing his wife, and the pair never became all that close during the Blight. After Oghren became a Warden, Ellie got to know him a bit better, and he became one of her good friends. The pair could often be spotted drinking together at Vigil's Keep, nights which would leave Ellie with a massive headache and a whole lot of regret. Ellie and Morrigan disagreed on a lot, but after Ellie got to know her and helped her retrieve Flemeth's grimoire, the two developed a friendship based on mutual respect. Ellie will always be thankful to Morrigan for saving her life during the Blight, and while they haven't met each other since then, Ellie hopes that wherever she is, she is doing well. Leliana is Ellie's best friend. Despite Leliana's slightly crazy assumptions that the Maker told her to fight the Blight, Ellie appreciated her enthusiasm for their cause, and the two bonded rather easily. They remained close and communicated regularly after the Blight. Alistair Ellie took a liking to her fellow Grey Warden very soon after they had met. She appreciated his sense of humor, and enjoyed joking around with him. The pair's friendship was cemented after they both survived Ostagar, and Ellie trusted him as a loyal friend and ally. She helped him through his grief at losing Duncan and the other Wardens, and she was one of the only people she opened up to about her own grief. Ellie was rather shocked to learn about his heritage, and a little frustrated that he hadn't told her something that could make them even more of a target than they already were. Still, once she confronted Alistair on the issue and learned why he had hidden the truth from her, Ellie reassured him that she understood his reasons and that she didn't care who he was - she liked him anyways. She only reinforced this after his disastrous reunion with Goldanna. It wasn't long after that when the two started to develop feelings for each other, but Ellie initially tried to play it off with humor because she wasn't sure that now was the best time for a relationship. Still, she liked him, kept talking to him, and they grew closer despite how bad the timing was. It was after a conversation with Wynne that Ellie realized that she either needed to commit to the relationship or break it off before someone got hurt. Naturally, Ellie chose to commit and the pair confessed their love for each other after spending the night together. Ellie and Alistair have had a happy relationship, despite their duties often keeping them apart. Ellie has promised that after she finds a cure for the Calling, they'll be together again - for good this time. Miscellaneous Links Reddit Headcanon Threads Reddit Writing prompt Threads Non-Reddit links (AO3, DeviantArt, Tumblr) Category:Hero of Ferelden Category:Warrior